Family and I have rented a home near Breckenridge for the second week in June for our family vacation. We are all flatlanders. Working on getting in serious shape because I am hoping to do some serious hiking. Being OCD, I am already doing research as to the best hikes in the area. I joined trails.com in order to get alot of info. Its a great site, but the volume of trails is somewhat overwhelming. Because I have limited time, thought I would ask for recommendations. Here are the trails that I have researched so far.
Royal Mountain
Mohawk Lakes
Crystal Lakes
Peak 8
Cucumber Gulch
Iowa Hill
Barney Ford
Gold Hill
McCullough Gulch / Quandry Falls
Gold Dust Trail - Northern Segment
Quandry Peak
Uneva Mountain
Notch Mountain
A variety of hikes I know. But we have family members with varying levels of fitness.
I know that the snow melt or lack thereof may make some of these unlikely. Lets hope for more GW this spring!
So anybody have any thoughts on these hikes? Or other recommendations for the area around Breckenridge. I don’t mind driving some to get to a kickass trailhead.
I also have what is probably a dumb question. Should I have any concerns about wildlife. Bears or Mountain Lions. I would hate to get eaten while trying to enjoy some scenery.
No advice on the actual trails, but if you’re coming from a lower elevation, make sure you’re well hydrated when you arrive and don’t go crazy the first day, otherwise altitude sickness might give you a splitting headache.
I don’t know all of these trails offhand, but with the snowpack we have had so far this season, some of the high altitude ones might still be snow covered.
Quandry is a great 14ner to hike, and ski !
Peak 8, is that the same Peak as part of the Ski Area?
Uneva, is that the peak across from Vail Pass? Good skiing on the south aspect looking a vail pass!
Cucumber Gulch, isn’t that on the road up to Freemont Pass? On the South Side, if it is there is some old mining equipment up at the end, in the box canyon. I know it is a good ski tour up there.
DB
edit to add:
Alot of hiking trails double as mountain bike trails, check out the ride guide for a bit more help:
My inlaws have a house just a few miles south of Breck and we have hiked around Quandry a few times and really enjoyed it. We haven’t made it to 14k yet though, once we were too green to try and a couple other times weather kept us off. We’ll be out there again in late July/early August, maybe this will be our year.
Also, try www.14ers.com, more great information on hiking and climbing, with a lot of great info for Summit Cty. and Breck.
I have hiked to Mohawk Lakes, and it’s an excellent trail. Not terribly rugged(I’m a flatlander as well). I’ve also hiked Quandary Peak. Great hike/climb, though you’re likely to encounter significant snowpack in early June. You shouldn’t have any issues with scary wildlife on these hikes, they’re all pretty well traveled. Just make a lot of noise, you’ll scare all the bear away.
Probably my most important tidbit of advice is to stop at the Breckenridge Brewery after any hike/climb in the area! It’s very refreshing…
It’s not technical at all - a walk up. It’s only 7 miles round trip but it is a solid hike that is very strenuous. If you are in shape take 2 pints of water/gatorade per person, a couple of clif bars and other light snacks, otherwise take more water. Don’t mess around on the way up. Start hiking and hammer up the thing without really stopping. Sight see on the way down if the weather is good.
Don’t hesitate to turn around if there is any resemblance (at all) of friendly puffy clouds or you don’t feel good about something. Keep an eye to the south. Weather typically builds up over the ridge to the south, then spill over quickly to quandary. The weather changes extremely quick on that peak and as you can see from this pic there is a lot of alpine to cover. That means, no shelter from weather/lightening. Keep a look out for skinny bearded men. If they are coming down the mountain you probably should be as well. Don’t start late. 5:30 AM means starting to hike on the trail at 5:30 AM.
If you check the weather and it says something like 20% chance of afternoon thunderstorms and you are out of the alpine by noon you should probably be ok. If it says rain before the afternoon or 60% chance or something like that then I would do it a different day.
Collapsible ski poles really save your knees, hiking on rocky trails, snow or steep downhill, even more so if you are a flatlander.
I used to hike there when I was a kid so there is definitely stuff for younger people in the family. I did several 14er’s the year I turn 5. I always went running around like crazy after arriving from Florida and then paid for it with a massive headache.
Your chances of even seeing a mountain lion are practically zero. I’ve seen one in 35 years of hiking. If there are any problem bears in a popular hiking area, the forest service posts signs or closes the area.
We were out there last summer for a week over the 4th of July and there was still some snow when you got up there. We are flatlanders as well, but found some awesome hikes. We were thinking about doing a 14er, but there was too much snow from what I was told to go up there as somewhat novices, plus my husband was just getting over a case of bronchitis, so we didn’t want to push it. One of the most beautiful hikes we did was in the Vail area and we hiked up to a Glacial lake. Most people stop at the waterfalls on the way up and turn around there which is a good hike (about an hour up or so), but if you continue on it is unbelievable!!! I’ll find the name and send it to you. It all in all was about a 5 hour hike. There are some really beautiful hikes all over the place. We also got on our mountain bikes and rode up Keystone Gulch which was really cool and I would highly recommend that. Be aware that afternoon storms roll in really quickly when you are up there. We tended to do most of our hikes in the morning early and then got back by early afternoon to hang out and relax in the afternoon. Oh and a piece of advice that I was given that I would pass along, if you are on a hike and the weather starts to change and you see the really experienced mountain looking people headed down the mountain, follow them and don’t keep going up! Colorado in my opinion is awesome in the winter, but a MILLION times better in the summer!
I recommend Mt. Lincoln+Democrot+Bross out of Alma (an hour south of Breck, or less) assuming you have a decent rig to get there (SUV would be fine; sedan with 6 people might not be. But if its a rental, what the heck!)
The popular hike amounts to bagging three 14ers but only about 3,700 vertical in 5 to 8 hours depending on your fitness level. Not grueling but not easy either. Mostly hiking but a tad of scrambling. I did it with my buddy and my 70-year-old father in 2007. There was a 10-year-old girl in Crocs at the top of one of the mountains, so its not that hardcore. We did it on a nice day about August 1 and a couple dozen other groups were up there, so neither quiet nor too busy. Great views!
June, though, hmmm … Depends on how snowy it is between now and then …
I’ve been on Quandary a couple times (turned around once in a snowstorm, summitted once under a full moon) and agree that it is a great “easy” 14er. Keep an eye on 14ers.com for current conditions on the mountain. Storms build VERY QUICKLY at that altitude so keep an eye on the clouds and do not hesitate to turn around if it starts getting dark. June isn’t the height of storm season but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen - start EARLY to give yourself the best weather. Depending on the hike we usually try to be on the trail by 5-6 a.m. and back below treeline by noon or 1. Plus, the view of sunrise from above treeline is incredible. Don’t underestimate the difficulty of gaining 3k in elevation over the course of 7 miles round trip. Its not a long hike but it is very tiring.
Not sure if you are talking about the Notch Mountain that is outside Vail/Minturn? We did the Halo Ridge route on Mt. of the Holy Cross this past summer which included going up Notch Mountain. The views of Holy Cross are INCREDIBLE from up there and the shelter at the top is way cool.
Democrat, Lincoln, and Bross are technically “closed” right now while CFI works out agreements with the mining company that owns the property. That doesn’t mean that they don’t get climbed every weekend - just be aware that technically you are trespassing. If you do these stay ON the trail because there are supposedly underground mines that may collapse.
Snow conditions vary depending on how much snow we get over the winter and how warm the spring is. Just to give you an idea, these pics were taken mid-June last year on Mt. Sherman (which is another easy 14er option that isn’t TOO far from Breck).
I wouldn’t recommend a hike up a 14er for flatlanders. This website is a good resource that shows level of difficulty, distance and approximate duration for many hikes in and around Breckenridge. Any hike in Summit County is going to be great.
For your next trip or for others who are interested, another great place to hike in Colorado is in the San Juan Mountains in the southwest of the state. Yankee Boy Basin is a beautiful place and the wildflowers including the Columbines are amazing in the summer. The elevation is about 12,000 feet.
Don’t underestimate the difficulty of gaining 3k in elevation over the course of 7 miles round trip. Its not a long hike but it is very tiring.
